Ruling the Dark
by The Bagpiper
Summary: Life ain't easy when your titles have been taken, your manor is controlled by Lord Slytherin and half your inner circle is now taking orders from somebody else. Tom Riddle had imagined his return to his home very differently but at least life will not get boring. WARNING: dark Harry, Dark Themes, violence, M rated for a reason, Dumbledore/Weasley bashing
1. Chapter 1

_**AN1: I do not own anything, only playing with JK's characters.**_

 _ **Introduction:**_

 ** _Life ain't easy when you are the dark lord Voldemort. Especially not when all your dark plans for when you return home after many years of exile are falling apart. Finding his home being inhabited by the youngest dark lord ever, his enemy, the boy who almost destroyed him was a very unwelcome surprise..._**

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 **1\. The return of Lord Voldemort**

The stones crackled under his feet. The salty scent of the sea filled his nose as he took a deep breath. Tom Marvolo Riddle or Lord Voldemort as he preferred to be known, was home for the first time in fourteen years.

For fourteen years he had spend his life in a self-imposed exile while he searched for ways to recover his power. Finally, just a little over a year ago he went through the final ritual that restored his magic to the point he was before the brat destroyed him.

It had been almost fourteen years since he had turned his wand on Harry Potter and lost the majority of his powers. Panicked and weakened he had been left with just enough power to apparate out of the cottage before Dumbledore turned up.

For fourteen years he had been cut off from magical Britain but now he was back. Tom smiled to himself as he looked around. He had, through muggle ways arrived on a stretch of beach that was just outside the wards of his former home.

He would only need three steps before he entered the grounds of the Slytherin Manor.

He closed his eyes as he remembered the grandeur of the Manor. It wasn't even a Manor but more a castle. The outside walls were made of black stone giving out a terrifying look. The grounds were large and pristine. Inside it would give you everything the Slytherin in heart and soul could dream off. Silver and Greens were the colour of choice in the décor. There were potions labs, a huge duelling room, a library with ancient books and a ritual room that had been hand build by Salazar himself.

Tom shivered as he thought about walking its halls again. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

The moment he stepped through the wards he knew something was different. It wasn't that they didn't accept him but something had changed. The wards were welcoming to him but it was like he was no longer the master of the Manor, more like a family member or visitor. The wards recognized his blood but not his rule. He felt himself being frozen in place.

When he looked up he was faced with a terrifying sight. In front of him stood two griffins, a stone warrior with a sword ready to strike and a massively large snake.

' _Who dares to cross my master's wards?'_ The snake hissed.

He looked at the snake in confusion. As far as he knew, there was only one heir of Slytherin and that was he, himself.

' _I am Tom Marvolo Riddle, the heir of Slytherin.'_ He stated clearly. He grimaced at the use of his filthy muggle name but he knew when it came to wards it was best to be clear of your identity.

The snake looked at him with more intelligence then he had ever thought possible in a snake. Even his Nagini hadn't been able to give him a look like that. After a minute there was a soft pop and a house-elf appeared next to the snake. The house-elf was dressed in a small version of wizarding robes and carried the Slytherin coat of arms.

"My master, the Lord Slytherin is willing to meet with you, Mister Riddle. Though he warns you that any wrong move will see you as a meal for Emeralda." The elf petted the snake like it was nothing. "Please follow me."

Voldemort bristled a little. Who had the right to give commands in his own home? Who had the nerve to call himself Lord Slytherin? Who had the nerve to even speak up against the great Lord Voldemort?

He was about to demand answers from the bloody elf when the griffins moved behind him. The stone warrior moved between them, its weapon still aimed for the dark lord. Tom realized that he had no choice but to follow the elf. His life would be forfeited if he refused or did something wrong.

As he followed the elf up to the castle he wondered who this Lord Slytherin might be. Before his exile, Tom had lived in this place for seven years. Never before had a Lord Slytherin stepped forward to claim the castle so he had assumed that there really was nobody of the bloodline left. He had never officially claimed the title as he hadn't been able go to Gringotts. The goblins didn't like him all that much back then.

Besides a new Lord, the griffins were a new security detail as well. Before there had only been snakes and wards to defend the place. Even the stone warrior hadn't been there before. As he examined it, he had to admit that the statue was a beautiful piece of magic. It was a sign that he was about to meet with somebody of great power and imagination.

They entered the castle and Tom sighed in relieve that it looked similar. For a short moment he had been afraid that somebody had just come in and changed everything he loved about this place. He realized that it had been foolish to fear. He was told that there was now a lord Slytherin. This lord wouldn't want to change anything about the Slytherin style of the Manor.

Another house-elf appeared and held out his hand.

"Your cloak, please." The elf said.

Tom nodded and removed his cloak. When they were done the first elf led him up the stairs to where he knew the official study was located. As he climbed the stairs he noticed some changes in the paintings on the wall. Especially the lack of some paintings. He missed quite a few of his more annoying ancestors. One large frame in particular made him raised his eyebrows. Whoever lived here now had removed the large portrait of Salazar's second son. Tom remembered actually liking that painting a lot.

"Please wait here while I announce your arrival, mister Riddle."

Again he bristled but nodded anyway. He started to get very curious as to who had the nerves to treat the greatest dark lord of this time like this. Nobody had let him wait since leaving Hogwarts.

A minute later the door opened again.

"You can go in." The elf said and opened the door further.

Tom nodded and took his wand in his hand. He was ready to curse the person inhabiting his home but as soon as he stepped into the office he was frozen in shock once again.

Instead of an imposter lord smirking at him, he found a young boy sitting in a big chair at the far end of the room. Fourteen years maybe fifteen but at least not an adult. What shocked him more than the age was the fact that the boy wasn't even looking at him. Instead the boy seemed to be reading the newspaper.

"I would advise against cursing me. The wards do not accept any ill intent towards its master." The boy said before closing the paper. "The wards will burn you to cinders if you threaten my health."

Tom slowly walked forward, his eyes roaming over this child. He had pale skin and long black hair. As he took another step the boy looked up and met his eyes. Tom gasped as he immediately recognized those vibrant green eyes. He felt his mouth fall open in shock but he couldn't close it. In front of him sat the boy who had destroyed him almost fourteen years ago, Harry Potter.

The boy was dressed in black trousers and a blood red satin shirt. On his shoulders rested a smaller snake and next to him on the floor he found a large black dog. The boy was smiling slightly at him while his fingers messed with the dog's hair.

"Hello Tom Riddle. Or shall I say, Lord Voldemort." Harry said with a smile that might have been innocent but was in fact terrifying.

Tom snapped himself out of it and lowered his wand. This suddenly turned into the most surreal day ever. He wanted to pinch himself to see if he wasn't dreaming. He had to swallow a few times before he could talk.

"Harry Potter." He whispered. Like an excited child Harry clapped his hands happily.

' _See, Savanha, he remembers. I told you he would remember me.'_ The boy hissed in parsel. "You see Tom, Savanha and I were disagreeing on if you would remember me. I was sure you would but she said that anyone wanted to kill me wasn't smart enough to remember. Though I go by the name of Hadrian. Harry is such a disgusting muggle name."

Tom could just stare at the boy.

"Well, don't just stand there. Come and sit. It's around tea time so you can join me."

Tom carefully walked over and took the seat across the boy. He carefully looked at the boy. The boy wasn't holding a wand or didn't look prepared to defend himself. Foolish or he was missing something. It felt wise not to assume the boy to be defenceless.

Besides that, he noticed that the boy held himself like an aristocratic pure-blood but not to the extreme that it was snobbish. Most worrying somehow this fourteen-year-old boy looked like the embodiment of power. In fact Tom could feel the power radiating from the kid. It was a menacing and dark power. Not something he had expected to feel coming of a Potter child.

"How are you the Lord Slytherin?" Tom asked, as he couldn't even begin to start to think about all the other questions he had. This question was however on the forefront of his thought process. Hadrian chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Oh, that is easily explained. It has something to do with my mother's unknown bloodline, some ancient magic and a set of very awesome goblins." Hadrian explained. "I could explain it to you but I do not want that kind of information in the hands of my enemy and I'm not sure if you are."

"Your mother was of Slytherin blood?" Tom choked.

"No, my mother is of Le Fay blood." Hadrian said and the dog next to him barked. "Oh hush, padfoot, our guest will not tell anyone. Anyway, the daughter of Morgana Le Fay killed the first son of Salazar when he foolishly challenged her when she was almost a hundredth years old. The young fool thought he would be able to claim the Le Fay magic by rights of conquest but he failed. Morgain never claimed the Slytherin title she earned by conquest, so I did that for the Le Fay bloodline. It was made easy by me defeating you when you foolishly tried to challenge me."

Tom couldn't help but stare at the boy.

"Foolishly?" Tom whispered.

"Very much so. You should have taken the time to research before rushing head along into a situation like a bloody Gryffindor." Hadrian said. The dog whined again. "Had you taken the care to study your surroundings when arriving in Godric's Hollow you would have seen the Le Fay crest above my crib. Had you studied the Slytherin Family history deeper you would have known that by magic no Slytherin blood would be able to harm me."

Tom nearly growled at being spoken too like that by a mere boy when another thought ran through his mind. The Le Fay House was known as one of the darkest houses in their world. Their history was darker than the Slytherin history. If as the boy said was true and the house was combined with Slytherin house it would make the light shake with fear. It would be a power force in any field on its own.

Yet, the Potters had been one of the lightest families he knew. James Potter had followed Dumbledore to his death. The muggle comment the boy made was a hint that the boy wasn't supportive of Dumbledore's agenda but any wizard could be on the light side and still dislike muggle things, right?

While the boy waited for a comment from him, Tom pondered on all the questions that were racing through his head. What this situation meant for the current state of Wizarding Britain? Was Dumbledore still in power? Or were his plans for the old fool completely unnecessary? What of the other houses, light, dark and grey? Where were they in this?

Tom realized quickly he severely lacked information. His exile had left him without the necessary knowledge about the comings and goings in magical Britain. Now he wasn't sure how to proceed. A wrong move or word could see all his plans fall to pieces.

As the boy didn't seem to be inclined to provide the information freely he decided to ask further.

"So you descend from the darkest house known to the magical world by blood from your mother's side and descend from one of the lightest houses known in England by your father's blood and now you have claim the house of the snakes. That must be fun in the Wizengamot. What political program are you running?" Tom asked carefully.

To his surprise Hadrian waved his hand irritated. Suddenly, the boy looked frustrated and angered. The emotion rolled from him like waves of dark magic.

"At the moment, Narcissa is holding the Black family seat and is running the dark. Dumbledork is the illegal proxy for the Potter and Gryffindor seats because he claims to be my magical guardian. Cygnus Greengrass will take up the seat of Le Fay this winter solstice on my request. He will lead the dark grey towards the dark. The Slytherin seat cannot be activated yet, thanks to you." Hadrian said with a pointed glare at Tom.

"What do you mean?"

"The whole bloody world believes you hold the rights to the Slytherin estate. If I would barge in and activate the seat then everybody will think that you have returned and rally behind the old fool." Hadrian said agitated. Tom could see the truth in Hadrian's words. Dumbledore's campaign would gain massive momentum if the sheep would be informed of his return.

"But you are running the dark agenda?" Tom asked.

"No, I'm running _my_ agenda."

Before Hadrian could continue an owl arrived and landed on the table. Tom watched as the beautiful white owl hooted and held out her leg. Hadrian leaned forward and took the letter.

"Thanks Hedwig." The boy looked up. "It's from Lucius. I need to read this."

Not waiting for Tom to answer the boy opened the letter and started to read. Tom was surprised and intrigued by the fact that the Malfoy's seemed to work with Potter. Both Malfoy's were apparently on first name base with Hadrian. As the boy mentioned Narcissa doing politics for the dark sec, he wondered what power the Malfoy's held these days. He would have suspects Lucius to be the leader of the dark at this point in time.

Apparently the letter was short and bad news because the boy started to hiss angrily in parsel. Tom sat back as he watched the paper catch flames without the boy doing any real magic. It just turned to cinders between his fingers.

Without paying attention to the burning letter the boy got up and waved his hand. A cloak appeared and suddenly dragon hide boots stood next to the desk. Tom's eyes widened at the wandless and soundless magic the boy did, seemingly without thought. The boy was still hissing angrily until the dog barked.

"Shut it padfoot. I need to go to the Malfoy's. You will stay here and keep our guest company. Explain a few things to him while I'm gone. It will only take an hour." The boy said and pulled on his boots. Tom watched as the boy waved his hand over the desk and locked all the drawers. "The room will be warded. I'd advise you to not harm Padfoot. I will not take kindly to that."

Tom watched in shock as the boy picked up his blood red cloak and stepped into the floo. Seconds later he was whisked away to the Mafloy manor. Tom wasn't sure what shocked him more. Harry Potter being able to do magic like that or the fact that the boy had just casually threatened him.

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 _ **Please review! I'll only continue if people want to read more.**_


	2. Dealing with Cowards

_**AN: WARNING : torture ahead.**_

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 **2\. Dealing with cowards**

A silence fell over the room and after a few minutes of furiously thinking about how he had gotten in this strange situation Tom turned towards the dog. He wondered how in Merlin's name a dog was going to explain things to him. Had the boy left the snake he would have understood but a dog?

He had barely finished the thought when the dog turned into a man. It took him a while to recognize the man but the wicked insane glint in his eyes informed Tom that this was a Black. He assumed it could only be Sirius Black as the eldest male Black. After all, he had killed the younger male. Though, how the man was out of Azkaban and at Hadrian's side was unknown. Last Tom had known was that the man had been framed by Wormtail and dragged to Azkaban.

"So, shall we start this?" Sirius said. "I'm sure you have many questions and it will take a while before Hadrian is done cursing some idiot."

"Cursing?" Tom repeated in a question. Sirius nodded and picked up a remaining piece of the letter.

"Yes, it seems that your arrival, which didn't went unnoticed, has stirred up some chaos. Hadrian will deal with it." Sirius said.

"But cursing?"

"Yes, I'd advise you to stay clear of them. Especially his crucio and ice-pick curse are very painful." Sirius said with a grimace.

"But the boy is only fourteen."

"Fifteen since last week and he has Lucius cowering at his feet. You have been away for fourteen years. You have a lot to catch up on." Sirius said and summoned a bottle of fire-whiskey. "As Hadrian locked us in we have time to catch you up."

"And why are you willing to do that?"

"Hadrian ordered me to do so. He has plans and I do not wish to be on the receiving end of his wand because I messed with his plans."

Tom wondered if the man was serious. From what he remembered Sirius Black was a bit of a prankster. Now, however the man looked totally serious about his fear to be cursed by the boy. It had Tom intrigued. Anyone who could install such a fear in a family friend was an asset to his campaign. Perhaps killing the boy wouldn't be in his favour. Yes, there was the prophecy to take into account but still if he could have the wizarding world's saviour on his side he would be taking control much sooner than expected.

There was only one little thing, the boy seemed to be the one doing the controlling.

S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S

Hadrian Potter stepped out of the fireplace and waved his hand to remove any sooth that had stuck on his clothes and in his hair. He looked up to see a nervous looking Lucius Malfoy stop in front of him.

"Hadrian, I contacted you as soon as I heard."

"Yes, thank you." Hadrian said and wrapped his cloak around his shoulders. "Did you assemble everybody?"

"Immediately." Lucius said.

"Good." Hadrian said with a smirk and pulled up his hood. "Let's go. I only have an hour. I was entertaining."

With a shiver that ran down his spine at the idea of Hadrian entertaining somebody, Lucius held open the door of his office and lead Hadrian to the smaller of his two dining rooms. Just outside the room he and Hadrian could hear the chatter of those summoned. As soon as the door opened the room fell silent.

Hadrian walked in and looked around. He gave a short nod to Cygnus and Draco before stepping up onto the raised platform.

"I'm displeased." Hadrian stated calmly. A shudder ran through the group of people. "I was entertaining an important guest and probable ally. Yet, I was called away in the middle of that meeting because I have to deal with a bunch of cowards."

"But Lord Slytherin, rumours say that the Dark Lord has returned." Somebody spoke up. Hadrian recognized the voice of Lord Smith, the father of Zacharias Smith.

"Even if the so-called dark lord has returned than that is no reason to go running with our tails between our legs like a bunch of kicked puppies!" Hadrian yelled. "I thought I was working with adults here. Not five-year-olds scared of the boogieman!"

Hadrian sighed and took a calming breath. It would do him no good to kill each and everyone of these cowards. Annoyingly he needed them to get the work done.

"Where did these rumours come from?" He asked.

"The Dark Lord was seen entering a muggle ship in France. Then earlier today Parkinson's daughter saw him stepping ashore close to the castle. She was taking a walk at the beach close to their summer house." Lucius informed him.

Hadrian groaned and rubbed his wand. That nosy bint of course went running to her coward father. Lord Parkinson would have informed everybody immediately. The man was a worst gossip than his wife and the daughter together.

"Who went to Dumbledore?" Hadrian asked calmly. He waited a minute but when nobody answered him, he pointing his wand to the closest figure to the side and threw a crucio. The wizard fell to the ground screaming for a minute before Hadrian lifted the curse. "I'll ask it one more time, who went to Dumbledore? And don't let me wait another minute or I will hurt every man, woman and child in this room."

Hadrian counted in his head. When he almost reached the minute he pointed his wand to Halley Flint, the younger sister of Marcus Flint.

"No, my lord!" Lord Flint said and pushed his daughter away. "It was Emanuel Brown. Everybody got scared when the Dark Mark stung, Parkinson had already send word of what his daughter had seen. Most of us were having a lunch meeting in the bar and were unsure of what to do. Emanuel panicked when we told him. Then, Parkinson arrived in quite a state to confirm it, he had checked his daughter's memory."

Hadrian nodded and turned the cowering figure in the corner of the room. His smile was anything but friendly.

"So, you feel that I'm not powerful enough?" Hadrian asked. "Have I not proven already that I am powerful enough to deal with Tom Riddle? Have I not proven to you that my political powers should be enough to rule the world? Have I not proven my skill enough to ensure to you that Dumbledore will be in cinders when I'm through with him?"

"Ye…Yes, my lord."

"Than why run to Dumbledore?"

"I panicked." Emanuel Brown said. "You haven't announced your presence yet. You play in the shadows and we have no idea of your plans. Dumbledore was the best option."

"What exactly did you tell him?" Hadrian hissed.

"That I heard from a reliable source that the dark mark has been active again. I never told him anything about you or that Parkinson confirmed it, my lord."

"How is your occlumency?" Hadrian asked but instead of waiting for an answer he broke his way into the mind of Emanuel Brown and tore it to pieces. He found the memory of the conversation with Dumbledore and was pleased to see that he was still uncompromised. He also found a few other memories that were of interest for him.

When he was done browsing through the memories he released Emanuel and shot a curse to the man. After half a minute he released the curse and Emanuel was on the floor bleeding heavily.

"Narcissa, be a doll and heal him for me." Hadrian said and returned to the platform. "Draco, Marcus."

The two boys stepped forward and kneeled in front him.

"I need to push forward the plans I was creating for Slytherin house. With Dumbledore aware of the return of Tom Riddle I will be watched like a hawk. I doubt he will leave me alone for the summer. The old man is afraid that I will turn to Riddle with no light family controlling me." Hadrian sighed. "Draco, contact Hermione and have her research the possibility of protection to mind-control spells and I want her to start searching for a rune set up for warding Slytherin House better."

"Yes, my lord."

"Then I want you to set in motion the plans with Snape and the lower years."

"Of course."

"Marcus, I want you to work on the upper years. I want them under my control before Halloween. By Halloween I will have the full control of Slytherin House. I won't yet use the Gryffindor title to claim the castle. It is too soon if Dumbledore finds out." Hadrian stated. "I also want you to see if you can get the devil twins on our side."

"Yes, my lord."

"Cygnus, I want to see you tomorrow at my castle. We need to discus politics. You too Lucius."

Both man nodded.

"Now, Emanuel, you will go inform your daughter that from now on she is mine."

"What? No!"

"Silence. It's either that or she will grow up with out a father." Hadrian snapped. "After you informed your family about this new arrangement and told your daughter to present herself to me on Friday, you will travel to Berlin and ensure that the business deal closes before the end of the month. If you fail at either… well you know the consequences of failure."

"Lastly, now that you are all here anyway. Lord Flint I want you, Lucius, Draco and Theo to go on an outing. I have a list with targets." Hadrian said and summoned a sheet of parchment with names and addresses out of nowhere. "They need to be gone before the end of the summer. They are all annoying Muggleborns and old Order members, I want them gone before Dumbledore gets too careful. Just make sure that it can't be traced to you."

Hadrian got up and walked out. Lucius and Draco followed him on his heals. Once in the office Hadrian lowered his hood and removed his cloak.

"I can't stay long but I need to know what happened at the ministry." Hadrian said and sat down.

"I was in a meeting with Fudge about the legislations on werewolves and vampires you want to put through when Dumbledore barged in." Lucius said. "He told Fudge that he was sure that the Dark Lord had returned. He informed Fudge that it was best to make a few changes in the wizengamot and in the auror office. He talked about removing the dementors from Azkaban and funding all sorts of envoys. Dumbledore even suggested cancelling the Tri-wizard tournament."

"Really?" Hadrian said. "If he wants to cancel it after the fiasco last year, it means that he is worried. Both other schools were not pleased to postpone last year but they will never ever try again if it is cancelled this year. I assume that Severus Snape has informed the headmaster about the dark mark."

"Yes, I thought so as well." Lucius said. "From what I saw on Flint's arm I assume the same. The dark lord has returned to his full power."

"Aren't you glad I removed that dark spot from your skin." Hadrian said way too sweetly. "If Flint proves his worth this summer I will do the same for him. Though I will mark him as mine. On the winter solstice I will also mark Draco, Theo and Marcus."

"What about me?" Lucius asked.

"Your presence in the ministry is too valuable to risk people knowing that you are mine. Perhaps once we control the ministry I will mark you." Hadrian said. "How did Fudge respond?"

"Shocked, stubborn and totally under my thumb." Lucius said.

"After Dumbledore left he asked me about it and I told him that I suspect Dumbledore trying to rally people behind him to take control of the wizarding world. I also fed him some information about Harry Potter."

"What did you say?"

"Fudge was afraid Dumbledore would use Harry Potter to gain more support but I told him that was unlikely as Potter was a Slytherin."

"I'm not a fan of Fudge. He is too easily swayed either way and only loyal to his position but it would be nice to have him on our side for now. We need to be careful with him, he is easily pushed into Dumbledore's hands if he thinks you are using him but I want to use Fudge for now."

"I'll try but I need to know more of your future plans."

"I will inform you tomorrow." Hadrian said. "Too much depends on the meeting I was in when I received your notice."

Hadrian got up and walked towards the floo. "I'll see you tomorrow. Draco I'll see you on Friday."

With that Hadrian disappeared in the green flames.


	3. Dinner

**_AN: well here is another update... ;) the Italic text is meant as Parsel._**

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Tom looked up at the fireplace when Hadrian returned. His eyes widened when he saw the blood on the boy's boots and trousers.

"Uhm, pup, you might want to clean up a little." Sirius said.

Hadrian looked down and shrugged. He waved his hand and the blood spatters disappeared.

"It's about dinner time. Let's go eat something and continue our discussion over some food." Hadrian said and opened the door.

"What the hell?" Tom asked.

"What is wrong?" Hadrian said.

"He means how you can just open the door when just ten minutes ago the most feared dark lord got his hands burned by trying to do the same thing." Sirius explained.

"Oh, Parsel wards." Harry said with a shrug. Tom followed the boy through the halls towards the dining room.

"What was wrong, pup?" Sirius asked.

"Bloody cowards!" Hadrian hissed. "Some of those bloody Death Eaters had been out, probably for of a drinking spree, when he set foot on these shores. Brown was with them and panicked. Instead of coming to me, the fucking bastard went to Dumbles. It was lucky Lucius was in a meeting with Fudge when Dumbledore came to inform him. Our plans have been moved forward and I have a slave."

"Emanuel?" Sirius asked.

"No, I saw in his memories how good his daughter looks in a bikini. She will make a perfect slave." Hadrian stated. "Oh, and I have given the order to start killing off Order members and annoying muggleborns. I gave them Hermione's list."

Sirius whistled loudly.

"I wish I could join them. I have a bone or two to pick with the Order."

"You will get your chance later. I have a few special people lined up for you." Hadrian said and entered the dining room.

"I see you made some changes here." Tom commented. He was slightly annoyed that the boy seemed to ignore his presence but on the other side he was totally intrigued by the whole situation. Commenting on such a trivial matter would ensure that the attention turned back to him.

"Yes, I did. Your throne and gruesome paintings were interfering with my appetite. They are stored in one of the vaults below the castle. All your stuff is, actually."

Tom looked at the boy and once again wondered what had happened in those fourteen years. What in Merlins name happened for this boy to be apparently so powerful that he had Lucius Malfoy and Flint in his pocket? And where was Dumbledore in this?

"So, how far did you get before Tom flew of the handle?" Hadrian asked Sirius. "I felt my scar sting a few times so I take it there were curses exchanged."

"No, your wards kept me pretty safe." Sirius said with a chuckle. It caused Tom to glare at him. Had Sirius not been used to Hadrian's glare he would have cowered but after spending a year with Hadrian not much scared the old marauder anymore. "Managed to tell him about your plans for the magical world and Hogwarts. I left the history lesson for you to explain."

"Oh good." Hadrian said. Small bowls with vegetable soup were placed in front of them. "And what do you think of the plans?"

Tom looked up from his soup and noticed that Hadrian was honestly interested.

"I think overall it is a pretty good agenda. I just don't see the use in leaving Muggleborns alive." Tom stated. Halfbloods he could live with but muggleborns came with muggle-parents and he hated everything muggle.

"That's because we actually need them." Hadrian stated. "I do not know how much you know of genetics, it hasn't really been studied widely by magicals but with all the inbreeding pure-bloods are doing, wizards and witches grow weaker each generation. I mean look at Goyle and Crabbe. The three most powerful wizards alive at this moment are all half-bloods. Dumbledore, I hate the man but he is very powerful, his mother was a muggle-born. You, I did a lot of research in your background, are a halfblood. And then there is me, my mother was the result from a squib-line mixed with muggleblood."

"Without the influx of new blood and magic the wizarding race in England will loose all its power within the next two hundredth years." Hadrian explained. "It wasn't too long ago when Hogwarts stopped teaching elemental magic because there weren't any pureblood student powerful enough to control them. Before that it were the ancient magics, like blood magic, rituals and alchemy that were dropped due to the same reasons."

"Even warding isn't taught at Hogwarts these days." Sirius inserted.

"So we need muggleborns to bring in new blood, it will make the magical genepool stronger."

"And the risk they bring with them?" Tom asked.

"Manageable, if we get to them really young. They need to be removed from the muggle parents and placed in good wizarding families to be raised properly as young as possible." Hadrian said. "But you agreed with the other plans?"

"All in all, yes. Perhaps some fine tuning here and there."

"Good, perhaps we can work together. I hate to focus on two enemies at the same time. Too much trouble." Hadrian nodded. "Cygnus and Lucius will be here tomorrow to discus the plans for the wizengamot."

"Talking about Lucius Malfoy, just how many of my Death Eaters follow you?" Tom asked a little annoyed.

"Cygnus was never a Death Eater and Lucius had that little black spot removed from his person." Hadrian said. "Besides that, Flint is loyal to me, I have the youngest Nott, those of Black blood obviously, Snape will be mine before Halloween, if not he is dead by then. I have Smith but I'm not sure if he ever was loyal to you, Travers is in my pocket and lastly I have Rosier the youngest. Besides that a few grey and light families who are loyal to me but they never had anything to do with you."

"That's about half my inner circle." Tom yelled in surprise and anger.

"Is it?" Hadrian said with a shrug. "Oh well, they were all waiting for the next dark lord to arrive or for your return. They have been useful so far."

"How the hell is it possible that a fifteen year old boy has some my most feared death Eaters under his control?" Tom asked angrily. Hadrian laughed but it wasn't a happy laugh, more something you heard in horror movies.

"That's a pretty long story. Maybe I'll tell you the complete story one day." Hadrian said. "but the short version is that after your little stunt in Godric's Hollow I was placed with my muggle aunt and uncle. They lovingly tried to beat the magic out of me for eight years. Sadly, I have eidetic memory so I remembered every minute I spend with my parents and the magic. By the time I turned nine the abuse got so bad that I snapped and just let my magic take control."

Tom nodded.

"My aunt and uncle have never been the same and I honestly can't wait until I can finally end their miserable existence. Though, for now they serve a purpose." Hadrian sighed. "Anyway, I was able to make my way into Gringotts where I met two amazing Goblins. Over a full day of business, heritage tests and claiming titles I became the most political powerful child in the magical world. Also the most magically powerful thanks to all those family magics I gained. Though, of course, Dumbledore is woefully unaware."

"Of course." Tom, repeated him carefully.

"Anyway, I stumbled up on Lucius and Draco the day I was taken to go shopping for Hogwarts. It was lucky actually as Dumbledore had set me up to become friends with Ronald Weasley." Harry spat the name in disgust. "Lucius was interested to see the boy-who-lived with the Le Fay house-ring and being able to do wandless magic. It was the start of a good relationship. He took me in for the rest of the summer and together with Narcissa, they educated me in business, history and magical theories."

"So, Lucius betrayed me?"

"No, not really, he considered it a step towards your agenda and positioning himself even better then before. I hold the veto rights in the wizengamot after all. Though over the last four years Lucius became my most loyal ally. Therefore last winter I removed the dark mark from his arm."

"And my other Death Eaters?"

"Lucius and I brought them in. For me mostly based on what I hear from their children. I do not have any use for stubborn old men and women so I go to their kids. Lucius brings in those who can be useful outside Hogwarts."

"And how do they stay loyal to you?"

Tom found himself impressed with the evilness that crossed the young boy's features.

"Don't think that just because I've just turned fifteen that I can't curse or kill. I made my first kill in the summer before I went to Hogwarts. Lucius witnessed it and he still has nightmares about it." Hadrian sneered. "Also don't make the mistake to think that I somehow fear you. You can be a very useful ally to my plans. You are powerful and still have some loyal followers. You are useful to me but the moment I feel you are crossing me I will put you next to Dumbledore on my shit-list. You don't want to be on my shit-list."

Tom couldn't help but laugh at the boy. This was getting ridiculous. This fifteen-year-old boy was threatening him like he was some low-life muggle.

"and what are you planning on doing if I did?" Tom asked haughtily.

Tom wasn't sure when he realized he made a mistake but it was somewhere between the groan Black let out and the ice-cold look appearing in Potter's eyes. The boy simply raised his hand and Tom felt his airways constricting. Suddenly he couldn't breath anymore. A second later he was slowly rising up in the air and noticed the boy got up as well. Breathing became even more painful when the boy started to close his hand.

A pain started in his legs when Hadrian raised his other hand as well. It felt like the blood was taken away from his legs and his cells were dying.

' _I could kill you in more ways then you could even come up with, Tom.'_ Hadrian hissed in parsel. ' _And I could do it so quickly that you wouldn't even have the time to raise your wand. Underestimating me is the most deathliest thing you will ever do. There is a reason the house of Le Fay is known as the darkest magical house in the world.'_

Tom started to get really scared when he couldn't breath anymore and started to feel light-headed.

' _I was going to offer you to work together. Together we can make the wizarding world the greatest place ever but in the end it is me who is calling the shots. If you cannot live with that it would be better for me to end your pathetic existence now.'_

"Pup, he is about ten seconds away from choking." Sirius warned the boy. "You said you needed him for your plans and you know how much you hate it when plans fail due to rashness."

Hadrian sighed and released the curse. Tom dropped to the floor and gasped for breath. He felt the blood rushing to his legs and the dizziness disappeared.

"You owe your life to Sirius here." Hadrian said. "Timmy!"

"Yes, sir?" An elf said as it immediately appeared.

"Show Tom to the guestrooms on the left side of the castle he can stay there for tonight and recover. Make sure somebody keeps an eye on him. He is not allowed to leave the castle before tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." The elf said with a nod.

"I'm going to retire. See you in the morning Sirius."

"Goodnight pup."

Hadrian left the room and Sirius walked over to where Tom was still gasping for air. He held out a hand to help up the shaken dark lord.

"He was going to kill me!" Tom asked incredulous.

"Yes, he was. You are lucky you are vital to a lot of his plans or you would have been dead. Normally he doesn't listen to me all that much."

"But he's…"

"He is the most powerful wizard in the world. He is also the darkest wizard in the world. Hadrian isn't cruel or takes joy out of torturing innocent people but cross him and he will laugh loudly as he dances over your dead body. I almost feel sorry for Dumbledore." Sirius said and hoisted the dark lord up. "You should feel really lucky, the last one to underestimate him was locked up in the dungeons. That was last Christmas and I think he is still there. Dead of course."

With that Sirius left the room as well.


End file.
